The Global Impact Feature - Matt Duggan

September 1, 2017

1. What Do I Stand For?

Other than the obvious things that I would hope we all stand for (honesty, integrity, love, equality etc), I stand for insight. I truly believe that insightful thinking is the answer to many of the world's problems, and the root of many of its success stories.

The world doesn't need more information. We're swimming (drowning?) in it, thanks to the internet. What we all need to have, do and provide is more insight, whether personally or professionally.

Insights > information

Professionally...

I strive to understand both the minutiae of my industry and the macro overview.

With those perspectives, I can provide better insights for my clients that help them make better decisions on where to spend their money and how to implement certain strategies.

Personally...

I practice meditation and seek to understand some of the behaviours that help and hinder my own progress.

Through that frame, I seek to understand my fellow humans and where possible, help them to get insights that will help them to develop further towards their goals.

2. The thing I know to be true that others disagree on?

Professionally...

That viewing every digital marketing effort purely on the basis of ROI is a huge mistake.

The numbers matter, but you can serve your market far more effectively if ROI is one of a few primary metrics, and not the only one.

Personally...

That finding a way for men to be more open and emotionally honest.

This is up there as one of the best ways to improve society (along with the equal education and empowerment of more women across the globe).

3. What are the big trends you see coming in your industry and how will you use them to make positive change?

VR (virtual reality) is coming up on us very quickly and will make the current 2D world of video look like a children's flickbook.

The marketing opportunities for businesses are remarkable.

You'll be able to provide fully immersive experiences for your clients. They'll have the ability to interact with what you do and you'll be able to demonstrate and illustrate things that you can currently only dream of doing.

I want to use it to help business owners, speakers and other experts to bring their messages to the world in a way that creates positive change.

However, I think that's still a good 5-10 years away before we all have regular access to VR hardware.

More immediately, the biggest trend in marketing is video and the ability for you to use it to provide real insights to your clients. Facebook has just announced the launch of its brand new YouTube competitor 'Watch'

It's going to be a massive content machine that could potentially dwarf YouTube.

You all have the chance to create content for it, so start getting good at creating content that people really care about (and they'll care if you give them results and insights in your content).

So, get good at video now and you'll be ready for the next wave of video as it rolls out on the internet.

Incidentally, there's a bridge between VR and standard video that we're seeing more and more, which is 3D video

Again, if you start to think creatively, you'll be able to provide immersive, entertaining and insightful content that helps your 'tribe'.

My Personal Mindset Strategy

Personally, what 'strategy' I have is relatively simple.

I've found that the more physical I am during the day or week, the more clarity I get.

So, I aim to get an exercise session in before starting any work. I then meditate using the HeadSpace app.

Here are some other strategies I use to maintain productivity and sanity:

I only check email a maximum of twice per day, although it's becoming more like once per day now.

I use tools like Inbox Pause and Boomerang for Gmail to prevent new emails coming in while I'm working in the inbox, and to schedule emails.

I also batch most work to enable me to be as productive as possible.

I try and limit 'blue light' (the light from screens) for at least 45 mins to an hour before bed as it helps me sleep.

I don't drink tea or coffee (don't like the taste) and try to limit sugar intake, particularly towards the end of the day. I also stay hydrated with loads of water.

I know most of these aren't deep mindset strategies, but they're all contributors to my mindset.